Africa-Press – Cape verde. The opposition parties are calling for greater attention to be paid to the transport sector in 2025, with a view to achieving better territorial cohesion and economic development. The creation of internal conditions to retain young people, as well as strengthening the health and education sectors, are other issues considered fundamental by the PAICV and the UCID.
These positions were expressed on Monday night during the “Plenary Session” of Rádio Morabeza. The MpD was once again absent from the debate.
The PAICV was represented by Nilton Silva.
“By 2025, we hope that the Government will, in fact, refocus its transport policy because it is necessary to boost the economy of Cape Verde. It is not possible to boost the economy of a country, especially an archipelago, if there is no regular, fast and comfortable transport system. The Government should also refocus its policy in terms of health and education”, they argue.
The UCID stresses that it is not possible to facilitate trade and inter-island mobility without an efficient transport system. António Monteiro defends a different vision for the sector.
“We believe that air and sea transport need to be properly safeguarded and rethought, so that we can have the islands united and create a larger market, enabling a better circulation of goods and people, so that our economy can gain greater dynamism and, consequently, be in a position to generate more wealth”, he states.
During the programme, the parties took a look at the State Budget for 2025, estimated at around 98 billion escudos. The Government has already defined three fundamental priorities: investment, employment and inclusion, with a special focus on youth.
Nilton Silva, from PAICV, believes that it is necessary to clearly define the priorities.
“In fact, ninety-odd million escudos is a lot of money for Cape Verde. It is a question of priorities. I will give you an example: this is an extremely fat government. It is a government that every year increases travel expenses and allowances that almost exceed 600 thousand escudos. However, there is no money for other sectors when they spend a lot of money on seminars and conferences, without much result”, he believes.
António Monteiro warns of the need for policies that minimize the loss of purchasing power of the population. The representative of the Christian Democrats also calls for the reduction of energy and water costs as a way of attracting investment.
“Because if we have cheaper electricity and water, we can attract investors who will seek out the country for our political and social stability. The focus on improving the quality of life and salaries is to prevent our young people from continuing to leave, taking their grey matter and the capacity to generate wealth away from the islands”, he believes.
The opposition parties argue that, with investments in the transport sector, the economy and the private sector, it will be possible to create jobs and improve the living conditions of the population.
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